AI System
by Hollis V. Saxon
Summary: Act Two: Shortly following the events of his adventures in Ivalice, Volker is called back to participate in a spiteful AI's game, partnered with an odd man named Josh Ender. Volker assumes the identity of Leslie Taylor, who finds herself in deep trouble when Volker arrives, and the trouble threatens to end the group's journey. Harsh Language and Dark Themes, but no Sexual Content
1. Prologue

Prologue

Volker

The scars that I had been given quickly healed in less than a day, even though the doctor that admitted me to the emergency room that day around noon had four different machines holding my chest together and another to keep the rate of blood loss to a minimum. I had been under constant monitoring while I was unconscious, and awoke to the surprise and confusion of half a dozen people in the room, trying to believe a doctor trying to inform them that I should have died with the wounds I arrived at the hospital with.

The sun was setting by then, the day after I returned from the land that I had traveled with a group I no longer am with. Disoriented, I couldn't tell you what transpired on the way home to my relatives. I faintly remembered school or my missing friends, as the only thing I could recall was the horror I felt reentering the temple where gods know what transpired.

However, a certain melancholy pervaded once I received another letter, but this time I wouldn't be the one the mission is focused on.

...

The lamely textured sky darkened, along with the terribly unrealistic trees and ground. The VR simulator sucked, and the chunky flatness and horrible resolution that made up the land choked my pride of even continuing. The admins thought this was turn of the century technology, with full encompassing and dynamic visuals... but it was closer to being in a NES game with free roam. It made me want to break every little bit of code this world was made up of and rebuild it myself.

_Bleep._ "Yeah, I know," I retorted. I didn't even want to stay here, much less have to deal with the admins anymore. I waved my hands and the menu popped up like usual when I started. I pressed the exit button like I practiced and closed my eyes. Feeling the sensation of the machine returning my conscious to the body that was laying in the pod, I mentally sighed. I sincerely hope the graphic designer improves the graphics quality.

I opened my eyes as the technicians released the binds on the VR caster and I removed the headset, replacing it on its spot next to the chair I had been on.

"How are you feeling, Miss Iceni?" the man, Mike, asked, helping me to my feet.

"Kinda glad I didn't get stuck in that awful place. The graphics are terrible," I told him, and he gave a hearty chuckle.

"Yeah, Jake threw the textures together in a couple minutes and spent the rest of the time adding them to the environment. He's already working on the proper textures and says he'll be done in an hour," Mike informed me.

"He'd better hurry," I told him. Mike lead me through the door to the main control room where the rest of the men and ladies were awaiting us.

"Oh, so you already got her out," Keith spoke up, a bit perplexed by something.

"Yep. You think I went in there just-"

"No, but there's still some ghost data. I'll just delete it," Keith opted, turning back toward the monitor.

"Has Jake...?" Mike asked, looking toward another person in the room.

"Check yourself," Riley answered, waving toward the other door, which Mike strode out of. "Still standing on two feet, I see. Do you feel any dizziness, Miss Iceni?"

"No, I-"

The light blinked out. For a moment there was an even silence, then the lights returned.

"Oh, shit," Keith muttered under his breath, and a glance at his monitor showed that the Ghost Data had become a virus and hijacked the system. No longer in control, Keith hurried over to cut the power, and the room fell dark again. Despite this, the monitor spat out a short message before darkening. Mike appeared in the doorway back to the room, breathing slightly audiable.

"You guys might want to see this," he said rushed, when the monitor turned back on with the message still there.

NICE TRY.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Volker

The only feeling in my body was the pain surging through the back of my skull, occurring in an infrequent but definite pattern. Instinctively, I threw my hands over my head in a deliberate swing that caught a bar, wet and cold, and tried pulling it. I focused on moving the rest of my body and heard leaves scraping across the ground as my legs worked themselves closer to my body.

I felt my body shake as someone kicked me in the stomach and the rest of my nerves and senses jump started. My eyes flew open as I pushed off the ground and , finding myself blind, scrambled away from my attackers, and tackled someone else. In a panic, I reached out to push him away, but his arms caught me and opened his switchblade. I froze as he twirled me into his arms and put the blade up to my throat.

I saw the other two stop in place and ready their weapons, a red bat and a shovel, but the person holding me didn't kill me.

"Get lost, you punks," the person ordered, and my attackers fled. The man put away his blade and walked over to where the other two were. I couldn't see well, but the man was a rather tall and wide person.

"How're ya feeling?" He said beside me, and I turned to see the man, who was actually as tall as I was. "I'm assuming you're the one I'm supposed to meet?"

"Huh wha?" I heard myself blurt, my mind empty as can be.

"Here," I heard the first person, a girl, say, and I could barely make out that she was holding something out to me. I reached for what I thought to be her hands and took the glasses from her and put them on.

Beside the bits of dirt on the sides of the lens, I could clearly see the two of them and the grove we were in. I could also see the blood that the attackers had probably beaten out of me. I could tell I wasn't doing exactly what I thought and tried to drop to my knees slowly, but my legs disappeared and I couldn't move my arms fast enough to keep me from kissing the ground and blacking out.

Long before I was conscious I could hear my mother yelling at someone to get out of the house. Without waiting for her to stop, I jumped up and found myself topless, which would have shocked me more if it wasn't stranger that I wasn't myself in another sense. Dismissing the oddness for later, I fetched for clothes and hurried downstairs, finding my mother slamming the door with a sense of urgency.

"He's not going to come back for you, is he?" she asked. I recalled the two that had saved me in the grove, and made an uncomfortable connection, but he had also mentioned...

"No, I don't know him and I won't deal with him anymore," I told Mom, and she relaxed, before locking the door and walked toward me.

"Are you feeling alright? Are you sick?" Mom started, checking my scalp for something before I waved her off.

"I'll be fine, Mom," I tried to reassure her, but I hardly felt like it. For one, I was tired, despite being unconscious for far longer that I thought was healthy. Second, I have to figure things out, like who I was now...

Memories of myself doing things and going to school swamped my visions, but I just didn't feel they were mine. I knew subconsciously who I was, but not who I am.

_I can tell you that, Trainer._

Mom let go and told me to get some rest while she contacts the police about the boy that had gotten under my clothes. I let my feet take me to my room, and upon entering found that he left his belongings on the desk. I picked up his bulging wallet and took out his various cards, many of them fake ID's of various places I couldn't imagine where on earth they'd be. However, the one piece of information that I wanted was on most of them.

Joshua Loiusa Ender. Male, 27 Blue Eyes Black Hair from somewhere in Arkansas. Doesn't matter, I looked through the rest of the cards to see if I can get back at him and found an unsigned Trainer Card and a letter from Abrikorn Studios, asking for help on a mission to beat a malicious AI at their own game.

"You were apart of that mission too, until I made a mistake."

I turned around and saw a woman made up of condensed computer code sitting on the edge of my bed. "What mistake?" I asked, not interested in small talk.

"The person you inhabit died from the baseball bat. Josh showed up just in time that you weren't killed again. The mistake..." she trailed, looking away.

"...is?" I asked, trying to get the information out of her.

"When you entered the system, you wanted me to make your trip as smooth as possible, so I put a lock on your memories and while you were the one who asked me to separate your sorrows from this adventure, it was my mistake to agree."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Either I was an absolute genius and wanted a challenge or I was just an absolute genius. My choice and I decide to mess it up.

"So tell me, about Josh and his partner," I asked, furious and anxious about my condition.

"Josh's partner is named Minorin and she's registered as a Squirtle."

"What."

"It'll make more sense when you start your journey, but Josh himself I don't know much about, other than he was your partner."

"So, I have to play your game and... I'll get myself back, AI?" I asked, and the woman laughed.

"Please, call me Athena. It's a bit ridiculous calling someone artificial intelligence when there as natural as the world around them," Athena chimed. "To get you started, I recommend that you find the Roman."

Tsk. That's not... It's a start. "Fine, good night. Athena," I said softer than I intended.

"Hmm," Athena muttered, before dissolving into air. I sat on the bed next to where she sat and, as an observation, checked where she had sat, and it was warm.

An uneasy feeling emerged from my chest and I reached over and grabbed my jacket and, pocketing the unsigned card and leaving the letter, Josh's belongings and left my room. I walked down the stairs and just entered the living room as Mom ducked out into another room. I swiftly hurried to the door and out it. The sun was setting, so the crisp in the air wasn't strong, but even so, I ran onto the main road and threaded through the neighborhood until I found the exit and sprinted down the path until my feet dragged me off the road and toward a shack.

I knocked on the door and sure as hell Josh opened the door. "I was going to come back in the morning-"

"Shut up. You need to tell me some things, and you'll do it now or I'm going to the cops about that stunt you pulled earlier," I told him. The smile he greeted me dropped, before turning around and taking a seat beside a makeshift bed where Minorin slept.

"What'dyou want?" He asked.

I tossed him his wallet. "What I want, Josh, is the rules to Athena's game," I asked.

He caught his wallet and put it in his pocket, before starting. "I don't care what she told you, we are not working together if this is how you're going to be. All you need to know is that you just have to beat the League and then her. If you beat her, we're done," Josh explained, before I dumped the rest of his stuff in a small pile and left.

I hurried back home before long and to my room before my mother could get a word out. I stripped the coat off my shoulders and tossed it onto my desk, threw my shirt and pants into the laundry basket and ducked into bed. The door opened and Mom stepped in, but after a moment turned and left. I closed my eyes and tried to visualize what the Roman would be like.

Strangely, I teased myself that he was built like a spartan warrior but as gentlemanly as a German professor. I chuckled a bit, before letting darkness take hold of my conscious again.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

According to the ID card I possess and by my mother, I am Leslie Taylor, a nerdy loner whose profession is breaking hearts of other nerdy loners. 18, Messy long brown hair, brown eyes and bespectacled since birth and gotten worse with dependency on glasses, throwing normal vision out the window forever.

I have outstanding grades and the fling vice president of the student council, which is why I was killed by two of the boys I had previously dated. Conveniently, the school had been blown up by the band of dicks that wanted revenge on the student council for more than enough reasons. If Josh didn't show up when he did, memory loss would be the least of my concerns.

Mom didn't ask where I ran off to last night, but she did ask about when he dragged me in. I didn't tell her what I learned from Leslie's- my memories, but I told her that Josh did save me from bullies. I got a call from the Vice President asking if I can meet him at the entrance to the forest to join in on a debate regarding the rebuilding of the school.

"I'll be there in a moment," I told him, grabbing the blank trainer card. Downstairs, I saw Mom open her mouth and I blurted "I'll be right back!"

Following the route I took yesterday, I took no more than a minute to reach, and when I got there, I saw Sean waiting in a light sweater and his hair couldn't be more perfectly combed. I hurried to him and greeted him with a cheery smile,

"Took your time, didn't you," he posed, sounding slightly irritated.

"You wouldn't even be here if I asked you to be here," I retorted.

"Well, of course. You know I live on the other side of the neighborhood from here," Sean said coolly, turning toward the forest and starting. "So, I heard some of the brats from the other class tried to woo you over to their side of the fight."

I chuckled. "You mean the twits from Pre-Calc? Ha, you're funny. As if they could ever," I boasted. It killed me inside to say so, but before the bombing, those twits had been the nicest people, but Sean and the student council would hear none of it. "So, what's the standing on the debate?"

"Three even on either side, and the President wants to hear your choice before she casts her vote. Which is..."

To release the people responsible for the justified but 'ethically wrong' bombing, but that wasn't an option. He wanted more financing for after school activities like business and sports at the cost of progressive clubs like bible study and Math Room.

"I would want anything you wanted, Hun," I said, and the expressionless mask on his face shattered.

"I- I know, that you would, I mean," Sean slipped. My feet stopped. I could feel confusion, but something else was stronger.

I looked around to find that he had led me far from the road, and that we weren't alone. I gave him a look of disapproval and turned toward our followers.

"Why?" I asked him, keeping my voice level, and he put his mask back on.

"I wasn't sure that you were going to do this first. At least now you're not the one breaking hearts," Sean said, walking away. The first of the crowd charged, followed by the rest shortly after.

"HO! HO!" A woman in a leather tunic appeared from literally nowhere and stood in their way, halting them completely. She was definitely taller and stronger that I was, tanned ever so slightly it was gorgeous on her, and her short, messy red hair was absolutely beautiful in comparison to my brown mop of hair.

"YOU WANNA GET THIS CHICK YOU HAVE TO GET THROUGH ME! I AM THE GREAT-" the woman turned toward me and in a quiet voice, "You a trainer?"

"Yes," I said quickly.

"Give me a name! A strong sounding name!"

"Uh... Blake?"

No sooner that it came out of my mouth she turned around and continued.

"THE GREAT BLAKE, DAUGHTER OF THE OLD ROMAN! ANY OF YOU WHO DARE CHALLENGE ME STEP FORTH!"

"You're a trainer?! I see, you never had a real commitment to begin with," Sean remarked.

"No, I just-"

"Shut up. You're dead to me," Sean stated.

"...You're the one who killed me," I retorted. I ignored him and pushed him out of my mind to focus on the ensuing battle. "Blake, I hope you know how to fight because I don't."

"I wouldn't worry, I got both of us covered," Blake assured me.

"I'll take your offer!" piped one of the girls in the group, a familiar blue haired punk walked up to Blake and stood up straight, though she left her hands in her pockets. "Come at me, grandma!"

Quicker than I could register, Blake put a fist into the girl's gut and smacked her head straight up with the still balled fist, and before the girl could react Blake kneed her in the stomach and spiked her onto the ground.

"WHO'S NEXT?!" Blake called out, and the group scrambled to get out of there. The trainer of the Pokemon, I think, ran up to Blake, threw some money at her and grabbed the girl and ran. "You better run!"

I still didn't understand what was going on, but I was glad that...

No, there wasn't anything to be glad for. I was dead to the one that I wanted to be with and I had resigned myself to some sort of underground battling competition. There wasn't any way I could bring myself to tell my mother that.

"Hey, cheer up. Everything's taken care of, and as a bonus you got a free Pokemon," Blake told me.

"M- make that two." We looked over to a purple haired kid wearing a purple and blue sweater and jeans. He was kinda hiding behind a tree, but not really.

"Now hold on!" Blake chirped before I interrupted and pushed her out of the way.

"Sure! You! Can! Come with us!" I said, pushing aside Blake. "What's your name?"

The boy looked at me with a plain face, then looked at Blake, then back to me, nodding. "Are you really a trainer?" he asked, less than amused.

"Yes, fine, if you really want me to give you a name then you'll be Zachary," I told him, somewhat annoyed. I brought out my blank trainer card to find it filled out with out information, including stuff I'd rather not have on there.

"Well, lead on, trainer," Zach said, pleased with his name.

"I doubt we could go back to the Pallet neighborhood, so let's hit up the bus station and lose them in Viridian," Blake suggested.

I agreed. There's bound to trouble waiting for us at the Pallet bus station, but if we go back home, then we'd be putting Mom in danger. I remembered the letter from Abrikorn on my desk and worried what she'd do if she found it, but I couldn't sneak in and get it without...

"No matter, let's get to that bus station," I said aloud, trying to appear more confident than I felt, and it worked, as Blake puffed her chest and Zach gave me a warm smile. I took a step, then another and with my two pokémon at my side. I wasn't going to give up on myself because I walked into a twisted fantasy in a rather bad position.

...Where's Josh?

Sean

Damn it, Les. Why'd you have to go make everything so complicated? Did you want to throw everything out of proportion? No, you figured out that I was going to abandon you and you saw me wanting to lead you into the forest to...

You knew everything, from the start. You gave them the map of the school, yet you used me as an alibi to get out of taking responsibility for the bombing. You cared for those twits, those morons and those assholes, but you chose to follow me and the council for what?

Bah, it doesn't matter. Your damn Pokemon might've saved you this time, but there are more than enough trainers in the council's debt that it won't make a difference. There's even that Elite Four under our coin that'll deal with you.

"Sean, you alright man?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied.

"You don't look it, but I guess Lesyay's backstabbing was hard on ya."

"Leslie, ah it doesn't matter. I'll be fine, just give me some time to get over it."

_**Holy smokes MAN! You better answer that Phone of YOURS!**_

I fished out my phone and answered. "Yes, Amelia?"

"Have you dealt with your little issue?" Amelia asked, impatient.

"She ran away, and I doubt she's going to come back. Has the President made her decision?"

"What do you plan to tell her regarding the loss of Les?"

"The Roman got her."

Leslie

Deep in the forest, two children were unlatching cages, freeing the pokémon caught inside. The pokémon were in the forms I was used to seeing, the inhuman squat and animal-like bodies.

"Go!" the children begged the free pokémon, and slowly they started off.

"Hey! Get away from there!" an adult called from the edge of the clearing where the rundown shed stood, and the two children tried to unfasten the last of the locks as the adults drew near, enraged. Some of the pokémon turned around to attack the captors, but they had pokémon of their own,. One child was caught, and the other fled with the weakest of the pokémon, shouting promises to come back to save the other, but shortly after the captors settled the chaos of the escape, the captured child was killed and fed to the captors' pokémon.

The scene faded, and I woke to Blake and Zach standing, I looked up to see that we were at the Viridian bus station, and hurried after them. "That was me and a friend of mine, heh, was," Athena's voice joked darkly. "Any comments?"

"Did you go back for him?" I muttered. Athena fell silent, and it was good timing as well, as Josh waved me over and followed me out of the station, despite me blatantly trying to ignore him.

"Glad you managed to find her in time," he said, but not to me.

"Minorin could have put up a better fight though," Blake complained, and I heard Minorin cough.

"Wasn't like I wanted to fight," Minorin retorted. Zach stayed silent, knowing that he could have joined in the fight, but from the limited experience there wasn't going to be much competition.

"Anyway, Les, you should check out the Pokémon Research Laboratory. If you are interested in, trainer stuff, it's a good place to start. Also, check out the gym. You might like what you find there," Josh noted, before pulling Minorin away..

"Was that your boyfriend?" Zach asked, and Blake smacked him.

"Well, Captain Obvious, if he loved her anymore then I doubt he'd even let her go off on her own," Blake joked, one that made me feel uneasy.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Leslie

Viridian City is where Leslie when to school, though I doubt I'm going there anytime soon. It was divided into three districts, the most notable is the well-funded Pokémon League, which included the Trainer Registration Office, which is also the Pokémon Gym and where I need to go; Victory Road, fully accessible to qualified trainers; and Indigo Plateau, where the Elite Four reside. All of it and the various pokémon related facilities are located on the western part of town.

The second, the size of which rivals Saffron, is the residential district, which is the pride of West Kanto. In fact, it was cleaner than Celadon and more economically powerful than Saffron, since it was the central hub for trainers.

However, despite the grandeur of the main part of the city, Old Viridian, which hides in the northeastern forest, is more of a ruin than a district, as it was a section of Viridian that was cut from the city's budget. While the move was successful in maintaining, boosting even, the city's finances, the city forgot about it.

Blake and Zach opted to stay outside while I entered the Pokémon Trainer Registration, and was greeted by a cheery girl who had too much coffee. She turned to a computer and then to me, and in a singing voice, she began.

"Hihello howareyou? Are you here for pickup of your ID card or are you a new one?" she said as fast as she could without trying.

"I'm a new trainer..." I said.

"Alright." She turned toward the computer and, without me saying anything, started typing. After a minute, she pointed a camera at me and took a picture.

"Do you want to join in on the research project?" the woman asked.

"No," I blurted, before continuing. "...Could I join at a later date?"

"Sure," the woman said, and after another moment the card was being printed. I didn't ask her what information she had put on the card when she handed it to me, but it definitely didn't seem right since it was blank. I thanked her, paid the small fee and left. Blake and Zach didn't say anything when I walked out, but I noticed that there was another person with them.

"Ah, the trainer appears," the man said, announcing my entrance. He was slightly taller than Zach, though he looked no younger than my own mother. He had orange red hair and brown eyes, eyes that were sharp and sinister. It didn't help him that he was wearing a leather tunic lined with pockets and knife loops, viewable from an open trench coat. "Though she leaves the appearance of any skill to be desired."

"My apologies for being a beginner," I retorted. "Might I ask who you are?"

"I am in search of some assistance in Old Viridian regarding an old goat. If you help me, I will be in your service for as long as you need me," the man said.

"Could you spare a few minutes? I have to make a quick trip to the Research Lab and I will be able to help you," I told him, and the slight smile faded.

"I'll be waiting at the Huntsman for two hours, and if you don't show, tough," the man pointed out, then turned and walked off.

"Let's not waste time," I said offhandedly, and didn't wait for Blake or Zach to respond. The Lab was just down the street, and it was lively with action. Once again Blake and Zach opted to wait outside, but I wished they had came with me as Josh greeted me just beyond the door, with a friendly smile.

"I'm here, just like you asked," I noted,

"Yep. So, how's the ID you took from me doing? Still in one piece?" Josh asked crudely.

"If you want it back..." I fetched the blank ID that I got from the Registration Office and tossed it to him. "Now, what do you want besides to waste my time?"

"Well, I thought maybe you'd like to join the research project. It at least offers reduced cost for lodging and healing pokémon," he noted.

"If you insist," I said, and he led me to one of the professors that was peering over a sizable tome and was writing notes into a well-used notebook.

"Professor Oak, this is the girl I was talking about earlier," Josh said, catching his attention.

"Ah, yes. I do remember her from one of the schools. However, I have a slight suspicion that there's more than research you're interested in," Professor Oak noted, which caught me off guard. I didn't really have a reason to join the research project, but it'll be something to think about while I'm hiding from the student council.

"There's nothing else I'd rather do than to help as much as possible, and this research project has my interest peaked," I lied, and he clearly fell for it, as he quickly put the book away and pulled out registration papers. I filled out the information as instructed and turned the papers in.

"Alright, you'll be in the system by the end of the day. Take this." Professor Oak handed me a PDA. "Record your findings on here and upload them. Just... keep it professional."

"Of course," I agreed, and Josh led me outside, and like I guessed, Minorin and Josh's team were talking and playing with Blake and Zach. "Where are you headed from here, Josh?"

"I'm headed toward Pewter, for the Gym that's there. Since you're a trainer as well, you'll want to check it out," Josh said, and he waved for his team to start off. I felt there was something I needed to tell him, but I resisted the feeling and started off toward the Huntsman.

Located on the border between Old Viridian and the Pokémon District, the Huntsman was a hangout for the darker side of Viridian. The man in the thief's garb was waiting at the bar, idly drinking. Blake and Zach followed me in this time, and took up a booth nearby, while I sat next to him.

"Would you like some milk, girl?" the bartender joked, laughing to himself.

"Sure, why not," I said.

"That's the spirit!" he went on, turning to collect a glass.

"Your offer still available?" I asked the man next to me, and he turned back to look at the other two, then back to his glass.

"Yeah, I guess so. Not like I asked anyone else, but you're lucky that I turned down that silver dollar gal to your nickel. Would have had left on a date by now, but I want that damn goat dead. Are you ready for this?" he asked.

"Don't have much else to do, and you could tell me more about yourself and the goat."

"The goat is a stray absol called Phinney Jack that took over a gang of spearow by force and took Old Viridian near twenty years ago. I didn't have a problem with him, and actually liked him for the few years my girl and I were down there trying to get back on our feet. The place is better than it used to, and it's more livable now, partly thanks to the goat, but a girl showed up, not a trainer mind you, and mucked things up. The goat tried to oust the girl, anyone would have but he had a rep to boost, but she broke his mind and he's been striking out on the rest of us.

"The gangs have been unruly since, but that's not what I'm interested in. About a month ago, the goat retook the streets and gained a hair-trigger. We had a mutual friendship throughout the whole ordeal, everyone did with the goat, but...

"Yesterday morning, rather the time 'fore dawn, Isa and I were at the Skeever Hut, the bar in Old Viridian, and the old goat walked in. It was calm as could be in a bar, and some of us, including me, greeted the goat with a toast, and it was nice for some time. The goat came to the bar, ordered a drink, flirted with the girls, and joked with the guys. Now Isa and I didn't grow up in the old place, so when the goat flirted on Isa, he went all in. Naturally Isa didn't like that, so Isa called the night off and we left despite his protests.

"That jerk must've took it to heart since I woke later that morning to his gang busting down the door and taking Isa, and naturally I tried to go after her, but I had to go through his gang and when I got to her at last, she was dead, with that damn goat trying at her from behind. I didn't like that and was going to take him there, but he had the whole of the district on his side so that's where you come in.

"As you know, trainers are exempt from battle and you twats can, being indiscriminate of course, take care of us with no penalty. I know you might be... morally wronged by being asked to, deal with someone, but I will say this is a moral freebie."

The sun was still in the air when the group entered the most feared place in West Kanto. Bugger led the way through the cluttered streets and I saw the Skeever Hut toward the top of the run down city,. Places high and low were dotted with idle residents, with little they could do to make their lives better. There were no children, no happiness, but as my group passed them on our way, the shine of hope, or maybe just interest, but each one shifted.

Soon, Bugger stopped before the building that the old goat live in, a deck high off the ground made of rusted scaffolding. However, there was something that bothered us. It went unspoken, and as we entered the building, the feeling deepened. At first glance, there wasn't anyone here, so we split to search the house. Bugger went with Zach to search the bottom half of the place and Blake led the way through the upper. The place was small but had plenty of cubby holes, and the clutter showed that it was lived in by more people than it would bear.. The fact that none of them were used but filled instead with expired. food and cleaning supplies.

We hurried downstairs to find Zach and Bugger headed our way. Bugger looked at us expectantly, but I shook my head. Only, when I looked back at them, I saw the old goat lunging, knife in hand, at the closest person, Zach. Blake sprinted past me, shoving me and Bugger aside to get to Zach. Bugger drew one of his larger knifes and followed her.

I started late, reaching for something to grab, all of which I missed or dropped, but it mattered little as Phinney's knife struck a lethal blow on Zach. Blake knocked Phinney back and caught Zach and pulled him back. Bugger slashed at his arms and nimbly maneuvered around him to score his legs, then held him on his knees. I slowed to pull the knife from Zach and put my hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye.

"Where is Isa?" I asked, and Phinney flinched.

"He took her. The boy has her. Normal day, out playing with her, when he wanders by. Isa shouted help, so I took her here to hide from him, have my men deal with him, but he just walked her and took her. Black hair and blue eyes, with a strong group of pokémon. I couldn't do anything to stop him," Phinney whined, but I wasn't in the mood for pity.

Despite his age, Phinney was fit, and could easily pass for an athlete. However, his graying hair and broken horn showed his age, and it was time for him to go. I gave the old goat a smile, then thrust his knife into his chest and carved out his heart. I savored the pained screams until they faded, and when the heart was exposed, I tore it out and shoved it into his mouth.

I didn't have to turn around to know that Zach was dead. Blake's cry was more than I ever wanted to hear, but I turned around anyway and solemnly said goodbye.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Leslie

We dragged Phinney's body out of the house and tossed it to the middle of the street, while Blake carried Zach out of Old Viridian. The homeless people whispered a thank you as we passed, some of which patted our shoulders with slight smiles on their faces. Bugger never said a word, but his emotions were in disarray. Phinney was dead, but I suspect that Josh was the one who took Isa, and he was long gone.

However, there was the matter with Zach. We couldn't take him into the city, so I reached out stopped Blake. She jumped, then turned around. I took Zach from her, and like she was responding to me, Athena materialized next to me. Blake and Bugger, who haven't met her yet, were surprised and took defensive stances, but I moved past them and gave her Zach.

She gave me a stern hug, before disintegrating with Zach. Bugger was the first of us to escape the reverie and move us along. We still had to find Josh, and I had a good feeling that I'd encounter him in Pewter.

We did find him in Pewter, technically, but to follow him was another matter. Along the way, Blake picked up a new skill, one she insisted getting into a fight with a strong person to showcase it. Bugger quietly steamed, and refused to have much fun. We did go back and take some of Phinney's cash, on Bugger's insisting. I didn't touch it, but I let him take as much as he wanted to get back at the goat. He took $20,000, but he told me that he wouldn't hold it to me if I took the rest of the 4,5 million.

It was difficult, but I left it there. It wasn't a moral freebie, and it was going to raise flags to of all kinds of people. With nothing else for Viridian to offer, I followed Josh's trail and headed toward Pewter, but with the only thing that remained of his presence was his name on the cluttered plates in the Pewter City Pokémon Gym, and the person keeping me from following him into the mountains, I felt obligated to let Blake demonstrate her newfound power in the Pokémon Gym.

"Welcome, trainer! To the PEWTER CITY POKÉMON GYM!" the announcer said, beginning his spiel. I didn't listen to the rest, and Blake picked up on that. Instead Blake walked out onto the Gym floor and the Announcer broke off, as the other trainer chickened out and backed away from Blake's eagerness to fight. The next trainer, unnerved, sent out his first pokémon, a sandshrew. Blake walked up to him and the sandshrew ran for the safety of his trainer.

"C'mon! Someone fight me!" Blake yelled, and a man that I could only describe as muscles walked onto the opponent stand.

Brown skinned, Black hair, no shirt and kept his eyes as slits, but wore green cargo pants and black loafers.

"You might have made my trainers run, but I am stalwart, both in strength and in courage. I am Brock, Gym Leader of Pewter, and I will test your power," Brock shouted, a roar in his voice. Behind him stood two similarly built people, one tall, one short. The shorter of the two walked forth silently and squared off with Blake, who smiled.

"Brockinonecorner BEGIN!" the announcer rambled over the air.

The foe charged Blake, but Blake easily dodged and swung him around. As the foe jumped to his feet, Blake brushed her shoulder with one hand and waved it at her foe, and the air before her ignited. The veil of flames engulfed the foe, and when it dispersed a moment later, he was scarred, the burn reaching from his shoulders to his thighs in one messy streak.

Brock walked onto the battlefield as Blake lifted the burned foe up and carried him over to Brock, who took him to the awaiting medical stretcher. Brock took his position, standing in his pose for a moment, then deflated.

"You show great promise to become a wonderful trainer, but as a gym leader I am obligated to either defeat or be defeated before I can let you leave this battle," Brock explained, and the second foe took the field.

Rather than just burning him like the first one, Blake engaged him with a normal fist fight, at least until he gained the upper hand. Blake pushed him off and put some space between the two, but the foe knew that if she did, then she'd burn him. However, Blake was faster, and she swiped her shoulder as she turned to face him, and once more ending the fight with fire. Blake dragged his body to Brock, this time passing Brock as he walked across the battlefield, digging into his pocket.

I walked toward him, and he handed me the gym badge. "She wanted to show that skill to me using a strong opponent. I didn't-"

Brock patted my shoulder, and looked at him. "It's a battle, a gym battle. This happens all the time. I'm sure Blake won't ever try to kill them unless they really deserve it. My team will be back to fighting shape in no time," he said, trying to ease my worry. He took the gym badge and affixed it to my bag strap and turned me around, giving me a gentle shove. "You'll find Misty, the next Gym Leader, in Cerulean. Take the east path to Mt. Moon and once you're though you'll be there."

"Thank you, Brock," I said, softer than I realized, and walked on. Bugger waited patiently as the door attendant punched my name onto the Victory plaque. Josh L. Ender was the one before it, so there's a chance he could get to Cerulean before I got to Mt. Moon. Bugger saw that too, and when Blake got back Bugger informed her and we stopped once at the Pokémon Center and hurried down the eastern path. Before long we made it to the small town outside of Mt. Moon without incident, and I could see Josh looking back toward me at the entrance to the cave, showed his PDA and disappeared into Mt. Moon, I pulled out my PDA and found that he had sent several messages and documents, only one of which was from right now.

I stashed the PDA and took a step and noticed that there was a new addition to the team, a brown hair green eyed boy with tan and cream wings. Both him and Bugger had lagged behind, and were out of breath catching up to me and Blake.

"I got caught up in a battle on the way, this one likes playing rough," Bugger said, panting.

"Spearow, from this town, of Minstrel. Mind if I, hah, join you?" he asked.

"Sure, Darren," I said, helping him stand.

"Darren, right," he said, chuckling. "Yeah, Darren's fine, except that I'm a girl."

I looked her over again. Her flat chest didn't help, the short hair, and the bulky shorts did in no way supported her claim to be a girl. "Yeah, I'm going to take your word, and we need to get into Mt. Moon and catch Josh before he gets too far," I told her, then turned and hurried off.

"What's her deal?" Darren asked.

"Josh is," Blake answered.

The group made the way to the entrance to the Mt. Moon Cave, but the guard outside stopped us. "The caves are closed for the night. I know that you, spearow, know that we send in the clearer teams to make sure everyone gets out before the night hits," the guard told us.

I looked at Darren and she looked away. It was getting late anyway, but Josh was ahead by I don't even know. It started to worry me that we wouldn't be able to catch up to him.

"Maybe I need to help you relax," Athena chimed, sitting outside a nearby building. The Mountain Giant Pub. "Josh sure has been making you stress since you got here. It's like he's the star of the show."

"Yeah, a dirty comedy. What do you know about him that I don't?" I asked her.

"He wants you, but he knows how bad it would be if you caught up to him. He's put so much fuck up in his position that he's not sure that you'll ever forgive him, and so he runs. He's leaving behind a mess, and since he's running, he's not reaping most of the rewards. Relax and follow him at an even pace, I'll make sure your group catches him," Athena explained. "Stay the night, I'll take care of you."

"What about the rest of my team?"

"I'll take them to my place," Darren offered.

"I have no objections," Blake said.

"Let's let the ladies have their night. We'll meet here when the gates open tomorrow," Bugger said, then the three left.

Athena pulled me into the bar and sat me down on one of the stools and ordered us a drink. "Not going to tell me anymore?" I asked, and she smiled.

"You'll find the rest on your own, and if not, I'll let you know what you missed. Now drink."

Blake

Darren's house was a short walk away and next to the town's pokémon center. There was a young girl standing outside the center with a letter, awaiting someone. Curious, I approached her and she looked up and flinched when I kneeled down to look at her better. She was a magikarp, and not as young as I initially thought, but rather still wet behind the ears.

"What'cha waiting for, kid? Looking for your trainer?" I asked her, and she held up the letter. "What's this?"

"Y-you're Blake, right? Red hair and armor, traveling with a beedrill named Ezekiel and a trainer called Leslie?" the girl asked timidly. I reached up and put my hand on her shoulder, and she started shaking.

"Calm, child. I'm not here to hurt you. I am Blake, and I will help you with what ever you need," I said, trying to comfort her. Rather than calm, she started crying, then threw her arms around me.

"He left me, he left me here to wait for you. I waited, and I saw him leave me behind. I thought you would never come for me, and when I caught a glimpse of you I thought my wait was over, but you guys disappeared, and I almost gave up. I almost gave up and ran after daddy through the mountains," she confessed, and there was more than one thing wrong with what she said, but there would be another time for that.

"Now, now. Your big sister's here to make sure you're safe," I told her, and she nodded through her sobbing. "Now, I'm going to take you with me, and we'll go after your father once you get some rest, alright?"

"Alright, sister," the magikarp said, calming down.

"Now, even though our trainer isn't here, I'm naming you, something strong."

"I'd like that," the young girl said, cheering up. "What is it?"

"Your name shall be Baelog, Lord of the Southern Seas."

"What?" Bugger asked, and I waved him off.

"Why the Southern Seas?" Baelog asked.

"Because North is up, and your enemies are going down, that's why."

Baelog chuckled. "I like the sound of that."

"Just remember that, and no one will stand in your way," I told her, and then lifted her up. "Now is the time for sleep, though, and your big sis will keep you safe tonight."

Baelog smiled, then shut her eyes as I carried her. Darren, or Rochelle, told her parents about us and they were kind enough to allow us to spend the night, and then go with us on our journey as long as Ezekiel, Bugger, behaved himself.

Ezekiel agreed and retired to the floor of the guest bedroom. Rochelle's dad, Dante, a retired Dodrio programmer, showed me his armor collection from his past fights and traded my armor for a sturdier set of armor with two short swords for my battles.

The armor was a leather tunic chest piece with light iron plates and pauldrons with a similarly constructed skirt, and he spent some time adjusting it to properly fit my body. It was light and sturdy, and I was grateful for it.

He also told me of a place in Celadon where I could get better gear than what he has, and if I bring him the artifact known as the Siegmund Lance in Lavender he'll personally pay for the upgrades.

Tired from the adventurous day, I retired to the guest room, where Ezekiel, who normally was hardy and tough, had melted under Baelog's cute self, and the two had fallen asleep together on the bed. I placed my armor on the floor beside a comfy looking chair and sat down.

Thoughts of my dad entered my head, and I wondered what kind of wonderful battles he has engaged in since he joined the League.

_One day, I'll show you how a glorious war is won by one man's fists alone!_

Mom and my brothers might have thought Dad was just a brute, but a glorious death doing what you like sounds better than fading from the world as a non-entity.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Bugger

"Ezzy?" the woman called out, a strange muffled but roaring echo resounding on the walls around us. She was wandering in the bright, thick white fog, the wet grass hugging her cold bare feet, the look of worry painted heavily upon her face. The tattered white dress, loosely hanging on her thin frame, was slightly illuminated by the glowing fog and fell to her ankles.

I did not know the woman, or why she called my name. I could not feel my body, unable to to breathe or call out to her, nor motion to her where I am. I could only watch her wander around the grove until the grass darkened. She reacted to something hidden by the fog, and the world darkened as her scream was muffled and died down.

Suddenly, the light returned, a spotlight descending upon a sleeping woman tied to a chair. Unlike the previous woman, who could only be described as 'gray', this woman was 'orange' and 'fire'. Reddish orange hair and crisp, golden eyes wearing a red, orange and yellow dress with black highlights.

The chair she slept in was a folding garden chair, and not long after the spot light turned on, the back right leg collapsed, bending in the middle and causing the woman to fall, and like magic, the fall was slow, but once it hit, the spot light turned off and I could feel myself wake.

I let my eyes slide open, to see that it was still dark outside. The clock on the end table told me it was just past one, but something was tugging at my heart. I moved Baelog off me, then rolled off the bed. Not making a sound, I passed Blake by and left the room, and noticed Darren drinking some water in the kitchen. While I wasn't the one who could say much about being up at one, I wasn't the one who did, and it surprised me when she didn't ask me about it.

"You heading out to the cave without your team?" she asked, and I flinched.

"It... doesn't concern you, or any of them," I told her. "I'm the only one who has business with Josh beside our trainer, who can deal with him on her own time."

"I'm coming with you if that's how you're going to act. You're not going to get in if you leave me behind," Darren said, grabbing a jacket and putting on her shoes.

Outside, she led us away from the town and cave to a secluded section of the pass to a patch of trees, which hid a path up and into the mountain range. Utilizing this, we found a way into the mountain and found that it was illuminated. Further in, we heard someone fighting around one of the many corners, so we pressed against the wall of the corner and listened.

"Damn, how many, haugh, of there, are you? Haurgh!" a gruff yet exhausted man said, while his opponents chattered, using their persistent high pitched echoes to communicate. As much as I thought about getting to Isa before Josh got too far, I couldn't leave this guy to die.

I dashed around the corner, drawing my knives and registered the battle: a gravely injured veteran fighting a large pack of coyote-thin mongrels, who were constantly clicking as the lack of eyes in their otherwise humanoid skull.

Their blindness easily gave me the impression that stealth was their weakness, but for this batch it wasn't really an option, since they were already upon the veteran and nailing him with stones. I dragged them off of him and Darren did the same, and in response to our arrival the veteran got up and pushed the last of them off of him. The mongrels retreated, bumping into the walls and into the other corridors.

"Thanks," the veteran said, and Darren and I helped him get to him against the wall opposite the way the mongrels ran. "My trainer is further in, but I don't know if he's-"

"Don't, we'll get him out of there. You'll see," Darren promised, and the two of us hurried after them.

The feral beings had gone to get reinforcements from the others, though Darren and I took care of them easily enough. The trainer wasn't in sight, so we pressed on, but not much further in was a wide open cavern of them, and they swarmed the place. We stood on an elevated section of the entrance, which was about 3 feet of the ground we could see. There were egg sacs plastered around the walls.

The clicking drowned out the noise we made, so I picked up a stone and tossed it into the fray. Once it landed, all of them fell silent, and stopped moving. I quietly picked another stone up and threw it like the last one, and they all flocked to the source, before they started attacking each other in confusion.

In the clearing of the mass, I saw the trainer weakly crawl away, looking toward us. Darren started down the side of the platform, and I joined her. We moved quickly to the trainer, and before the mongrels realized we were there, Darren and I carried the trainer to the veteran.

"Geogg," the trainer said wearily once we were in sight of him. "I'm glad that you're still-"

"Quiet, John. Save your breath for the way back," Geogg said.

"We can only get one of you back at a time,"Darren noted under her breath.

"Shut up," I told her, before the cries of the mongrels emerged from the den. "Take John, and come back for us." Darren stuttered, trying to tell me that she wasn't going to leave me to the mongrels, but I would have none of it. "Go."

I let her take the trainer and turned to fight off the mongrels. "So, hero, where's your trainer?" Geogg asked.

"Getting drunk with a friend of hers."

"Ha!" the man chuckled. The mongrels appeared at the entrance to the room and I grabbed the handles on my blades, but then the mongrels paused. Reflectively, I stopped and we stood at a standstill, as I noted they weren't clicking, just listening.

We stood silent for several minutes, when another person entered the room, drawing their swords from the sheath on their back. In the dull light of the lanterns hanging from the wall, I couldn't tell whether she was a pokémon or trainer, since she had no partner, and at the same time her presence was both threatening and indifferent.

"Mors," she spoke.

"Bugger."

"Geogg."

The mongrels snarled and resumed their clicking, before charging forward. Mors charged and downed several of them at once and pushed deeper in as I handled the ones that got past her. In moments, Mors disappeared in the thick of the mongrels as they pushed me back and when they all lay on the ground. I checked to see that Geogg was still conscious and hurried after Mors.

All of the mongrels lay dead on the chamber floor, the egg sacs ruined. Mors stood against the back wall looking toward me, waiting for me to speak up, but rocked herself onto her feet when it was apparent that I wasn't going to.

"You should leave," Mors told me, menace in her tone.

"I can't carry Geogg by myself."

"Useless thief," she said, and walked back to where Geogg was and used a healing spell to get him back on his feet. "Now, leave. I don't exist, this place doesn't exist. Out."

"Mighty fine way to dismiss us," I retorted, and she drew one of her swords and pointed toward the exit, giving me a meaningful glare.

I helped Geogg out of the cave and to the pokémon center and found Darren waiting. "Did the girl arrive in time?" Darren asked, once Geogg was out of ear shot.

"Yeah, she did," I told her in an irritated tone. "Let's get some sleep. It's going to be dawn soon."

"Yep!" Darren said, relieved that the night was over with. We didn't get much closer to Cerulean though, which was disappointing.

Volker

I lifted the headset off me and looked around, finding myself in the capsule. My thought returned to me as it lifted and I stared at the face of the person that I knew as Athena. She smiled at me as I reached up and touched the scar between her eyes, recalling the veggie demons that had caused it.

"Don't remember it?" she asked, and I shook my head.

"No, I do. Its just, seeing it there on you when, I don't know. I don't know how to explain it."

"Then don't," Athena commented and pulled me up off the bed. I stood and she led me out of the room. I saw Josh waiting in the other room, and he flinched as we passed by. "Until her game is over, don't talk to him outside of it," Athena warned, and I looked back to see him hanging his head.

Athena led me through the building to the lounge where a girl as old as us in gothic drab was waiting. She stood up when we walked in and looked at me with annoyance. Athena ignored her and walked past her, but she stopped me as I followed.

"Mors," she said.

Mors? The roman god of death? Wait, would the appropriate response be Thanatos?

"Thanatos?" I asked after a moment, and she pushed me back the way I came and grabbed a sword resting against her chair and pointed it at me. "Wait, stop. What do you mean by Mors?"

She hesitated, then looked to see Athena standing at the doorway. "Wasn't he the one-"

"Not yet," Athena answered. "Volk, c'mon. You need to rest up."

The girl lowered her weapon and let me pass, and Athena took me to a dining hall where I saw Saikun talking to Criss over a meal. "Don't talk to anyone," Athena whispered, and sat me down for the moment. The conversation between Saikun and Criss went silent as I did, and it bothered me. It wasn't that I was interested in other people's conversations, it was just that they shut up because I wasn't supposed to hear it yet.

And that, of all things, is going to really get on my nerves.

"Hollis, what do you know, you actually do eat sometimes," a friendly voice said, and I turned to see a cat girl in black looking me over with interest. "So, when we headed out to deal with Ingram?"

I stayed silent, and she looked confused. "You konw, Ingram Harris? The one-" she looked over and made some gestures, and I looked to see Athena pointing at the door.

"Oh, is he not-? Ah damn it. Forget what I said!" she said, hurrying out of the cafeteria.

I looked at Athena, finding she had put some food before me, and she gave me a faked smile. "Not yet, but soon?" I asked.

"Hardly," she confessed, defeated.

After we ate, Athena showed me to the barracks and said she'd pick me up around seven. I walked to the nearest empty bunk and sat down, when Josh entered the bunkhouse.

"We really need to talk," I told him, and he laughed.

"I'll wait up in Cerulean. Brings that Mors chick if you happen to cross paths with her," Josh said, taking the bunk next to mine.

"What do you have with her?"

"I'm a guy cursed to get around a lot, and it tends to get me in trouble."

"I'm not sure that's really a curse to you."

Josh fell silent, and I assumed he was asleep. I decided to follow Athena's instructions and got some sleep.

Bugger

The dream about the woman resumed when I felt sound asleep. The woman that was tied to the chair now standing and wearing a light black gown. She took a seat at the bar which I found her in, and ordered something I couldn't pronounce.

Tired from not controlling the dream, I willed myself into it, and it distorted the scene. The woman noticed and turned to face me, standing as the bar stool vanished under her.

"So, the trouble maker is here at last," the woman joked.

"I thought it might've been a slight tiresome to leave this dance to the lonely night," I flirted, offering my hand.

"Oh, you silly man. You know not the woman you wish to dance with, do you?"

"If the lady offers her name, I will take even the most bloodiest hand in dance, even if it was stained with my own blood."

"Oh, darling. I simply must meet you while awake, deary," she said, softly taking my hand and leaning on my chest. "I can be found on the tip of the Cerulean Cape. Please, hurry, my dear."

"I shall, my dear. Only, the name of the woman that I shall meet evades your lips."

"You will find that your woman has will make a very large impression on you even without one."

She laughed softly, and disappeared into the foggy surroundings. Like before, the scene darkened, but lightened only with the sun's rays. The woman's presence held ground in my mind, yet my heart rejected her, since it was for Isa, yet I felt that was wrong, however right it was.


End file.
